


Strange Disturbances

by skyGaia



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: BloodClan (Warriors), BloodClan is its own warning, Discord chatlogs, Don’t copy to another site, Gen, Humans, Mystery, Nightmares, OC-centric, POV Outsider, Suspense, The name Chelford is taken from the human maps in the books, and all that it entails, and seriously how did nobody in Chelford notice the cats????, inconclusive ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-12 01:16:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17457821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyGaia/pseuds/skyGaia
Summary: There’s something odd happening with the stray cats in Chelford. [POV Outsider, OC-centric, one-shot]





	Strange Disturbances

**Author's Note:**

> I found this in my drafts today and decided to finish it. I hope it's okay, I really liked how it turned out but who knows. This is what you get while I keep procrastinating on KGS by working on my original content otl

It was 3 in the morning, according to Daniel’s clock. He grumbled angrily, blinking his fuzzy eyes at the bright red numbers, before trying to cover his head with his pillow.

Those damn cats were yowling again.

It seemed like every other night or so, the strays in the area would start yowling for no reason at all. Fighting, or something, whatever it was that cats did. It was really, really annoying, but Daniel accepted that there was nothing he could really do about it. Unless he called animal control, but he wasn’t even sure if the animal control line was open this late.

Finally, Daniel accepted that he wouldn’t get any more sleep this night, and so he pulled the pillow off his head and threw off the covers, pulling on a shirt and stumbling out of his room into his flat’s kitchen.

It was a single-bedroom apartment, which he gratefully had all to himself. Daniel wasn’t the type to want to deal with roommates, and so he had no need to worry about waking anyone up as he poured himself a bowl of his favorite cereal. He poured some milk in as well, for good measure, and sat down at the table by the window in the next room over.

Daniel admittedly had forgotten that he had left his phone over on that table before he went to bed, but was thankful for it as he had something to do while he ate. Picking up his iPhone and turning it on, he scrolled through his apps until he got to Discord. He knew some of his friends liked to stay up late, so he figured he may as well kill time by talking to them while he waited for those damn cats to stop caterwauling.

He texted them for a while, laughing to himself at some of the jokes they shared as he ate his cereal. He was in the middle of scooping some more of the soggy Lucky Charms when he caught sight of something outside his window.

There was a cat, there, on the windowsill. A big, black and white cat. It looked kind of burly, and had a couple scars across its face. But that wasn’t what drew Daniel’s eye.

The collar around it’s neck. It had dog teeth in it.

The cat yawned, and Daniel scrambled to get a picture. He managed to snap one just in time, and the sound of his shutter going off seemed to make the cat freeze, and it slowly turned its head to look at Daniel. The man held the cat’s gaze for one, bewildered second, cautiously lowering his iPhone, before the cat simply blinked, stretched itself out, and then jumped down from the windowsill.

Daniel quickly sent the picture to his friends on Discord, but nobody seemed to take it seriously, thinking he photoshopped it. Only one other in the group chat seemed to believe him, a friend he actually knew in real life who lived in Chelford like him.

 

Psiteller _today at 3:35 am_

Shit’s freaky as hell, dude

Psiteller _today at 3:35 am_

I swear, those damn cats are possessed or something

Psiteller _today at 3:35 am_

All of them are starting to wear dog teeth in their collars. Every fucking stray I come across wears it. Like some sort of status symbol or smthn

Karna’sLeftNipple  _today at 3:36 am_

you’re joking

Karna’sLeftNipple  _today at 3:36 am_

theres no way thats real. cats don’t do that, theyre cats

Psiteller _today at 3:36 am_

I have a whole fucking photo album dedicated to it

Psiteller _today at 3:36 am_

It’s FREAKY ok. Shit’s fucked

Psiteller _today at 3:37 am_

I’m honestly scared to let Periwinkle wander around at night anymore. I’ve decided to keep her inside for the time being until this crazy shit stops. I swear one night I let her out once and when she came back in the morning I found a nasty cut on her shoulder. I took her to the vet right away and the vet said she probably got in a fight but Periwinkle _doesn’t do that_. She doesn’t fight. So I don’t buy it for a second

KerpowKerpow! _today at 3:37 am_

We’re not the only ones who are noticing this, right? I mean, with a stray cat population like Chelford has, surely it’s not just us noticing it!

Karna’sLeftNipple _today at 3:37 am_

i still think you guys are making this crap up

Karna’sLeftNipple _today at 3:37 am_

theyre cats. fucking, _cats_. since when do cats wear dog teeth in their collars like some sort of trophy? it doesn’t make sense. next youre going to tell me theres been a lot of dead dogs showing up in alleyways and stuff

KerpowKerpow! _today at 3:38 am_

Not dogs, actually. Cats. Sometimes the ones with the collars. Mostly old cats and ones who seemed to be sick before they died. Except they all died because they were torn apart, not because they were too old or too sick or starved to death. Sometimes even healthy-looking cats get found like that. The city thinks it might be some sick fuck taking the stray cats and carving them up, but with the dog teeth…

Psiteller _today at 3:38 am_

It’s scary honestly, I actually found one in my back yard once. There were a lot of cats yowling that night too, it sounded like it was right outside. I’m so glad I kept Periwinkle in that night, I was actually afraid to go outside and look at what was happening. I should have called the police, honestly, but I was so afraid I just…ugh

KerpowKerpow!  _today at 3:39 am_

Jesus Christ, Sarah, you didn’t tell me about that! Holy fuck, that’s terrifying! Like, that’s legitimately terrifying!

Karna’sLeftNipple _today at 3:39 am_

ok you guys are starting to scare me a lil, can you PLEASE stop with your creepypasta story thanks

Comiko _today at 3:39 am_

Okay what are you guys buzzing about—whoa what the hell did I just walk into

Comiko _today at 3:39 am_

Sarah, are you going on about the cats again?

Psiteller _today at 3:40 am_

Yeah, Daniel found one of the ones with the collars outside his window. Scroll up for a pic

Psiteller _today at 3:40 am_

Nasty looking brute

 

The conversation continued for a while, leaving Daniel rattled and firmly put off trying to sleep for the rest of the night. He ended up crashing anyway after logging off of Discord around 4 or so, if only so he wouldn’t be bone-tired in the morning before work.

However, as he slept, his dreams were plagued by the images of collared cats caterwauling through the night, dog teeth glinting in the moonlight. There was a leader they were singing their praises to, black as midnight with only one spot of white on his front paw, his own claws covered by more teeth and the purity of his fur quickly staining red.

The leader sat upon a hill of bones, and looked down at Daniel with a judging gaze. When he opened his mouth to speak, his voice was the sound of the wind shrieking in the air.

“█████████████” the cat spoke, and his word was law.

_(do not meddle in affairs you do not understand)_

“I don’t understand,” Daniel said, and the cats turned to look at him as their leader looked away, dismissive. The stars glittered, and the collared cats with their bone-white teeth jumped upon Daniel and tore him to pieces.

***

“I still can’t believe you roped me into this,” Daniel muttered, helping set up the cameras with Sarah. It was part of a volunteer project as—surprise, surprise, people were starting to get worried about all the ripped up cats being found in the alleyways. So the city told the police to do something about it, and the police gathered volunteers to set up cameras around the city to try and catch the person doing it.

Daniel had signed on due to Sarah’s needling, and also to get some peace of mind. He suspected that Sarah was the same way, admittedly, and he was secretly thankful his friend had asked him to come along with her. He cast a glance over to her—she was wearing one of her floral patterned shirts today, it seemed. Daniel really liked those, he needed to get some—and smiled, even though she didn’t see it.

“Well, I needed to get you out of the house for something other than your job, anyway,” Sarah joked, brushing some stray black hair out of her face. She sighed as she finished with the camera she was currently working on, and wiped her hands together, before going back down the ladder.

“Right, there’s that one done. You need any help up there, Daniel?” She called to him, and Daniel shook his head, fixing the last part in place.

“No, I’m fine. Just about done with this one myself, actually,” He replied, before pressing the “on” button on the side. “Aaand…done. I’m coming down now.”

Stepping off of the ladder, Daniel shielded his eyes as he looked at the camera he had fixed. “It’s in a good position, right? I know they said to do it a certain way, did I do it right?”

Sarah looked at the camera as well, squinting. “Yeah, it’s fine. Should be, at least.” She looked over to the bags full of supplies that had been given out to the volunteers, and walked over to it, beginning to rummage through. “We have about…oh, actually I  think we put up all of the ones we were given. We’re done.” She smiled, putting her hands on her hips. Looking over to Daniel, she flashed an even bigger smile.

“We should report back to the station and turn these in. After that, do you want to grab something to eat? I’m starving.” Daniel asked, and Sarah laughed, taking a bag and slinging it around her shoulder as she stood. She handed the other bag to Daniel, and nodded.

“Sure. That sounds like it would be nice.” She replied warmly, and Daniel smiled.

They made their way back to the station quickly enough, dropping off everything and finishing up their business. Then they hit the road again, discussing where to go to eat when everything went wrong.

A cat ran out into the street as they were driving, seemingly running away from something. Sarah slammed on the brakes, but it was too late, and the cat got run over. Immediately she pulled the car over, and she and Daniel jumped out of the car and rushed over to the cat’s body.

It was dead, without a doubt. Daniel wasn’t really sure what to do, only knowing that he shouldn’t touch it and instructed Sarah to do the same, but when he looked over to the alley that the cat had an out from his blood froze.

A small, midnight black cat with white on one paw stared back at him. Cold blue eyes seemed to pierce into his soul, and his too-small collar was absolutely filled to the brim with teeth. A couple other cats stood side-by-side to the small one _~~(leader)~~_ , their collars filled with teeth as well.

One of them was the burly, black and white cat that Daniel first saw on that night. The other was a skinny, ginger cat who looked equally as sinister. And on the claws of the middle cat _~~(leaderonthebonehill)~~_ there were dogs teeth. The tips stained red.

The small cat _~~(leadersittingonthebonehilljudgingyou)~~_ gave a small nod, turned around, flicked his tail, and left with the two other cats in tow.

Daniel forgot to breathe for a moment, and Sarah jostling his shoulder was the only thing that snapped him back to reality.

“Daniel? Are you all right?” She asked, concerned.

Daniel only gazed blankly back at her, before saying, “I think I just met the leader of the cat mafia.”

***

“The strong █████ the weak. That is how the world works, how ████████ works. We are strong. We are ████████. And we █████ the weak.”

_(do not meddle in affairs you do not understand)_

“I don’t understand.”

The leadercat shifted his iceeyes to look at Danielweak. He grinned, full of dogteethcatteethteethteethteeth.

“You don’t have to. You’re not ████████. You’re weak. And we █████ the weak.”

The yowlscreams intensified, and the gathered catstrong jumped upon Danielweak and █████ him. They █████ him and █████ him until he was nothingdead.

“Blood is everything. Blood is the answer to everything. That is why we are strong, why  ████████ is strong. And why you are weak.”

█████████████ █████ ███████ ██ ████████ █████████████ ██████.

A smile.

“Remember that.”

***

KerpowKerpow! _today at 5:21 pm_

I think I might actually end up going to a psychologist at this point

KerpowKerpow! _today at 5:21 pm_

Because whatever nightmares I’ve been having are only getting worse

Comiko _today at 5:21 pm_

Damn, man. I’m really sorry to hear that. Hopefully going to a psychologist will help, at least. It’s a shame you don’t remember anything about the dreams, though, otherwise it would be easier to figure out what’s eating at you.

KerpowKerpow! _today at 5:22 pm_

Yeah. Combined with those damn cats screeching every night, my sleep cycle is getting even more fucked than it already was.

Karna’sLeftNipple _today at 5:22 pm_

shits fucked, dude. you really should just get the hell out of chelford already. go vacation in the countryside, it should do you some good. i sure as hell know if i had to listen to cats screeching outside my window every night i would want to get the fuck outta dodge.

Karna’sLeftNipple _today at 5:22 pm_

not to mention the creepy cats wearing dog teeth. and the bodies. did they ever find the cat killer btw

Psiteller _today at 5:22 pm_

Nope. Police haven’t said anything, and City Hall hasn’t said anything. People are pissed, they were sure they’d have caught him by now, but they’re both being super quiet on the whole matter. Just…not saying anything. I’m kind of tempted to go through one of those cameras they set up to see what’s on there, if there truly hasn’t been anything, but the only reason I’m not is ‘cuz I know I’d get in balls-deep trouble for even trying if I got caught. They are technically government property.

KerpowKerpow! _today at 5:23 pm_

BTW, Karna, I thought you said you didn’t believe us about the creepy stray cats?

Karna’sLeftNipple _today at 5:23 pm_

shut up dude

***

“Got it.”

Sarah’s friend—Daniel thought his name was Jackson, or something like that, it’d been about half an hour since they met and he didn’t remember—called from his couch, brushing aside some of his dyed neon-green fauxhawk. Sarah jumped up from her spot on the floor and immediately squished herself next to Jackson, peering over at the computer screen.

“I still don’t know why you have a hacker friend, or how you even met,” Daniel commented, sliding down to sit next to the alleged hacker’s other side. Jackson laughed, rubbing the back of his head.

“Well, actually, it’s a funny story—but I can tell you some other time. Anyway, here, I cracked into one of the cameras that you guys set up, the one in the alleyway on Seventh and Westover, I think. This backdoor shouldn’t be caught for a while, so we can pretty much chill the whole night to see if it catches anything before we’re kicked out. We probably have even longer than that, honestly, but it pays not to underestimate the police.” He explained, reaching over to his coffee table and picking up his previously-abandoned Mountain Dew.

He twisted it open and took a swig, before capping the bottle again. Glancing at Daniel, he gave him a quizzical look. “Why’d you get Sarah to ask me to do this for you, again? She never asks me to do stuff like this, usually.”

“Ah, actually,” Sarah piped up, sheepishly coughing before continuing. “It was actually my idea. Daniel just came along since he figured it’d give him a peace of mind.” Jackson turned to face her, and she flushed in embarrassment.

“Really? That’s surprising,” was all Jackson said, before turning back to the screen. “Well, now I figure there’ll be a whole lot of nothing happening for the most part, so we can just sit back and relax for the most part. There’s some beer in the fridge, or just energy drinks if you don’t feel like getting drunk, so feel free to help yourselves. I can also set up some Mario Kart to pass the time if you feel like it.”

“Sure. I think I’ll take you up on that offer,” Daniel replied, moving to stand. He glanced over at Sarah. “You want anything, Sarah?”

“Nah. I’m fine.” She waved him off, tucking a curl of her black hair behind an ear. “I think I’ll help Jackson set up Mario Kart. Now, where’d you say the stuff was…?”

They passed the time like that, drinking caffeine and trying to one-up each other on the virtual race track, when some caterwauling started playing from the speakers of the laptop. Jackson jumped when the first wail started, clutching his chest as if he was about to have a heart attack. Likely, he very nearly did.

“What the _fuck_ ,” He swore under his breath, before scrambling to grab the laptop and flipping it open. Before he opened it completely, though, he turned to Sarah and Daniel, face grave. “You’re probably going to see something disturbing on the screen, not going to mince words here. Are the two of you okay with this? Because if you don’t want to see, I suggest you turn around.”

“I’m sure.” Daniel said, voice hard. Sarah nodded, face pale but serious as well. Jackson nodded, breathing deeply through his nose, before letting it out.

“Okay. Just—be warned, all right?” He said, before opening the screen all the way.

It wasn’t anything like Daniel was expecting. It was worse.

The only pro to the many cons of what he saw on the screen was that it wasn’t a human doing it. It was the cats, the ones with the collars and teeth.

“Fucking hell,” Jackson swore, looking a little green. The poor animal getting dogpiled and torn apart by the other cats was basically screaming now, and Jackson lowered the volume even more, considering how low it already was. It didn’t help. Daniel shared the sentiment. He was at least thankful that the noise was quiet enough, even at the previous volume, so that it wouldn’t wake the other tenants.

Getting the police called on them for this wouldn’t end prettily, at all.

Daniels gaze flicked across the screen, before settling on a particular shape. He pointed at it, pressing his fingertip just below the form. “There,” He said, tapping the computer screen, “That cat. Right there. Can you zoom in on it or-or, angle the camera towards it, or something?”

“Uh…sure. Hang on,” Jackson said, and Sarah frowned, looking at Daniel as the hacker worked.

“Why that cat, Daniel? What’s so special about that one?” She asked, and Daniel swallowed as the picture on the screen moved to better focus on it.

_(do not meddle in affairs you do not understand)_

“I…I just…” _~~(leadersittingonthebonehilljudgingyou)~~_ “I’ve seen that cat before, I know I have. That time, when we accidentally ran over that stray, and…” _~~(leadercaticeeyesdogteethcatteethteethteethteeth)~~ _“In my dreams, I think.”

“Your nightmares?” Sarah pressed, genuine concern and worry on her face, now. Jackson shot a glance at Daniel, before turning back to the laptop and fiddling with it a bit more. Daniel nodded, eyes transfixed on the form of the small, black cat with the single white paw.

_~~(we~~ _ ~~█████~~ ~~_the weak. the strong_~~ ~~█████~~ _~~the weak.~~ _ ~~████████~~ _~~will always~~ _ ~~█████~~ _~~the weak.)~~ _

_~~(You. You are weak.)~~ _

_~~(we will~~ _ ~~█████~~ _~~you. Just as we always have.)~~ _

“I have to go.”

***

Daniel ended up taking his online friends’ advice and cashed in his accumulated vacation days, going out to the countryside like Karna suggested. It was relaxing, and peaceful, and the absence of the yowls and cries from the stray cat populace definitely soothed Daniel’s anxieties and worries.

He slept peacefully for the first time in what felt like ages, no nightmares to be found. He could actually get a good night’s rest—imagine that!—and he woke up every morning feeling refreshed as ever.

Admittedly, he dreaded going back to Chelford. With each passing day, he dreaded it more and more, until it was time to finally go. Sighing, Daniel packed his bags and left behind the countryside resort, returning to the city he vowed he’d eventually move away from.

When he entered his apartment that night, though, there weren’t any sounds of the cats from before. No longer did they scream openly into the air, underneath his window. It was quiet. All was quiet. Daniel finally had peace, for once, and when he slept in his own bed the nightmares still refused to come.

The peace lasted for several days longer. Daniel had almost forgotten what it was like, to be honest. The screeching, the nightmares, the cats. It was only one morning, as he was pouring out another bowl of Lucky Charms for himself, that he saw another cat, again.

It wasn’t the small black one. It wasn’t the burly black and white one, either. It was the skinny ginger one, and he was pawing at the window, seemingly begging to be let in. The collar of dog teeth around his neck was missing, as well.

Daniel froze, blood turning to ice. Shaking himself, he set his bowl down on the counter and opened the window, letting the ginger tom jump into the apartment. The cat rubbed himself around Daniel’s legs, and Daniel found himself leaning down to pet the poor thing.

There were scratches, it looked like, in the tom’s body. All over, in fact. A huge patch of fur was missing from his upper back, just below his neck, as well. Daniel frowned at this, scooping the cat up into his arms and placing him on the table so he could look it over a bit more thoroughly.

“Someone’s certainly beat you up quite bad, huh,” Daniel mused, and the cat simply meowed in return. He sighed, running his hands through his hair. “Well, I feel like I have an idea of who, though.”

Daniel stepped away, taking a bowl out from his cupboard and reaching down below to grab some cat food—except he didn’t have any cat food. Daniel sighed, turning back to the ginger cat, who was looking up at him expectantly.

Daniel smiled. “Well, looks like we’re going to have to go shopping. I’ll need to get a collar, too, and take you to the vet, but…” He patted the cat on the head, gently, and the cat purred and headbutted Daniel’s palm. Daniel frowned, slightly, looking over the cat’s skinny, malnourished body. “I think we’d better take care of food, first.”

 

End.


End file.
